Chapter II

1Now Aseneth despised all men and regarded them with contempt; yet no man had ever seen her, for Pentephres had a tower in
his house, and it was large and very high. 2And the top storey had ten rooms in it. 3The first room was large and pleasant; and it was paved with purple stones, and its walls were faced with precious stones
of different kinds. 4And the ceiling of that room was of gold; and within it
1
Lit. ‘that room’.
were ranged the innumerable gods of the Egyptians, in gold and silver. 5And Aseneth worshipped all these; and she feared them and offered sacrifices to them.
2
FH add ‘daily’.
6The second room contained all the finery for Aseneth's adornment and her treasure-chests.
3
In this verse the authorities differ not a little among themselves over the details, though without any change in the
general sense.
7And there was much gold in it, and silver, and garments woven with gold, and precious stones of great price, and fine linens.
8,9And all her girlish ornaments were there.
4
Lit. ‘And there was all the adornment of her virginity’.
The third room contained all the good things of the earth;
5
Or ‘land’.
and it was Aseneth's store-house. 10And seven virgins had the remaining seven rooms, one each. 11And they used to wait on Aseneth, and were of the same age as she was, for they were all born on the same night as Aseneth;
and they were very beautiful, like the stars of heaven, and no man or boy had ever had anything to do with them. 12And Aseneth's large room, where she spent her time,
6
Lit. ‘where her virginity was nurtured’.
had three windows. 13One window looked out over the courtyard to the east: the second looked to the north, onto the street; and the third to the
south. 14And a golden bed stood in the room, facing the east. 15And the bed had a coverlet of purple woven with gold, embroidered with blue, and fine linen. 16In this bed Aseneth used to sleep alone, and no man or woman ever
7
So BH Slav.: D om.
sat upon it, except Aseneth only. 17And there was a great court all round the house, and a wall round the court, very high and built of great rectangular stones. 18And there were four gates to the court, overlaid with iron; and eighteen strong young men-at-arms used to guard each of them.
19And along the wall inside the court every kind of beautiful tree that produces fruit had been planted; and the fruit on every
one of them was ripe, for it was harvest time. 20And on the right of the court there was an ever-bubbling
8
Lit. ‘rich’: D om.
spring of water, and beneath the spring a great cistern
9
Slav. adds ‘of marble’.
that received the water from the spring and out of which a river flowed through the middle of the court and watered all the trees in it.